Overview of changes to employee reservation rules during mobilisation
Overview of changes to employee reservation rules during mobilisation
EVERLEGAL experts: Svitlana Teteria, Counsel, and Alina Ivanchuk, Junior Associate
Practice shows that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine reviews and changes the procedure for reserving employees liable for military service every year. This occurs through the regular updating of criteria for enterprises, institutions, and organizations to obtain "critically important" status, as well as through the introduction of new limits and restrictions regarding the employees reservation.
This year was no exception. On June 2, 2026, Resolution No. 692 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated May 30, 2026, titled "Some Issues of Reserving Conscripts for the Period of Mobilization and Wartime" (hereinafter – "Resolution No. 692"), entered into force. This resolution introduced further amendments to Resolution No. 76 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated January 27, 2023, which regulates the procedures for granting "critically important" status to enterprises, institutions, and organizations, as well as the reservation of employees.
The EVERLEGAL team, consisting of Counsel Svitlana Teteria and Junior Associate Alina Ivanchuk, has prepared a detailed analysis of the key innovations of Resolution No. 692, taking into account the latest clarifications from the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (CMU) and the Ministry of Economy, along with practical recommendations.
I. Increasing Salary Level Requirements
Resolution No. 692 increases the previously established mandatory salary requirement for employee reservation purposes, which is calculated based on the minimum wage (MW).
Increase of the basic criterion from 2.5 MW (21,618 UAH) to 3 MW (25,941UAH): This criterion must be met simultaneously regarding both the average salary across the entire enterprise, institution, or organization for the last reporting month, and the accrued salary of each individual employee who is being submitted for reservation or is already reserved.
Retention of the 2.5 MW criterion: For enterprises, institutions, and organizations located in and actually conducting activities in areas of potential combat operations, areas of active combat operations, or temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, which are included in the relevant list and for which no date for the cessation of the possibility of combat operations, the date of completion of combat operations, or the date of completion of temporary occupation has been determined.
Exceptions: The updated salary level criteria do not apply to enterprises, institutions, and organizations of state and municipal ownership.
Important notice: To verify compliance with the specified criterion, the accrued salary for the reporting month is used (before the deduction of personal income tax and the military levy).
Transition period: The new requirement regarding the salary level for employees that apply for reservation or who are already reserved will become mandatory starting from September 1, 2026. By this date, employers must bring their payrolls into compliance with the new requirements in order to maintain xisting reservations.
II Obligation to cancel deferments in case of exceeding reservation limits
Resolution No. 692 establishes an imperative procedure to be followed in the event of a change in the number of military-liable employees subject to reservation, which leads to an actual exceeding of the established employee reservation volume limit (usually no more than 50%).
In the previous version of CMU Resolution No. 76, the duty to "take measures to prevent the exceeding of established restrictions on the number of military-liable persons subject to booking" was already placed on the heads of enterprises, institutions, and organizations. However, this provision was declarative in nature, as the legislation did not define specific deadlines for taking such measures, a clear mechanism for cancelling employee reservations on this basis, and, most importantly, any direct sanctions for inaction by the head.
The new amendments eliminate this uncertainty as follows:
Procedure and timeline for compliance: The head of an enterprise, institution, or organization is required to submit an application for the cancellation of the deferment from conscription for those employees who exceed the permitted limit within 10 working days from the date the circumstances leading to the breach of the quota occurred (e.g., employee dismissal, staff reduction, etc.). This must be done electronically via the Diia Portal.
Consequences of non-compliance: Failure to meet the specified deadline or failure to submit the relevant application is now defined as an independent ground for the revocation of the "critically important" status of the enterprise, institution, or organization by the body that made the decision to grant it.
III. New Rules for Counting Part-time Employees in the Military-liable Employees' Reservation Quota
In order to prevent the artificial inflation of employee reservation limits, the Government has tightened the rules for calculating the total number of military-liable employees. The introduced changes eliminate the practice of counting the same person toward the quotas of multiple employers.
According to official clarifications, these changes will be applied as follows:
Principle of single accounting in the quota: A military-liable employee who, in addition to their primary place of employment, is employed elsewhere on a part-time basis (as a secondary job) is counted toward the total number (quota) of military-liable individuals only once and at only one place of work. Furthermore, there is no regulatory requirement to count the individual exclusively at their primary place of work—the organization where the person works part-time also has the right to count them.
Right to reserve part-time mlitary-liable employees: A military-liable employee working part-time can be reserved. A mandatory condition for this is the inclusion of such an employee in the general quota specifically by this employer.
Accounting for individuals with an active deferment: Individuals who already have the right to a deferment from mobilization on other grounds under Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization" are likewise counted toward the general employee reservation quota only once—at one place of work.
Implementation deadline: These changes will come into full force on September 1, 2026.
At the same time, as of today, there are no explanations regarding the specific procedure for how part-time employees will be included in the total number (quota) of military-liable individuals of one of the employers, or at whose initiative this will be done. Therefore, we are still awaiting more detailed information on this part from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
IV Clarification of Requirements for Diia.City Residents
Possessing the status of a Diia.City resident is no longer an automatic and independent ground for recognizing an enterprise as "critically important" for the functioning of the economy. To obtain this status, the enterprise must additionally meet the requirements of Clause 2, Part 1, Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Stimulating the Development of the Digital Economy in Ukraine" regarding the amount of the average monthly remuneration of employees and gig specialists (not less than the equivalent of 1,200 euros). Compliance with this requirement must be confirmed by tax calculations of the amounts of income accrued for the benefit of taxpayers—natural persons, and the amounts of tax withheld from them, as well as the amounts of accrued unified social contribution for the last 6 months, submitted to the controlling authorities.
V Updating sectoral and regional criticality criteria and re-confirming current statuses
Resolution No. 692 introduces a mandatory review of current sectoral and regional criteria for determining enterprises, institutions, and organizations as critically important, a large-scale audit of already granted statuses, and also limits their validity periods. The process of auditing and re-confirming statuses by responsible bodies will take place in three stages:
- Deadline: Stage of the procedure for government bodies and applicants
- By June 10, 2026: Review of sectoral and regional criteria. Ministries and regional state administrations are required to review their previously established criteria.
- By July 1, 2026: Audit of current statuses for compliance with the updated criteria. If the criterion under which an enterprise, institution, or organization previously obtained this status was excluded during the update, the authority is required to revoke the status.
- By September 1, 2026: General review of decisions. Authorities must ensure the final review of all previously adopted decisions on criticality (except for those entities whose status has already been verified and revoked at the previous stage by July 1, 2026).
All decisions on granting critically important status that are in effect as of June 2, 2026, shall remain valid only for the period for which they were issued, but no later than September 1, 2026.
To maintain the status after this date, according to Government clarifications, enterprises, institutions, and organizations must confirm it by re-submitting a full package of documents to the relevant ministry or regional state administration within the above-mentioned timeframes, depending on the criteria under which they obtained the status. The submitted documents must be reviewed within 10 working days.
VI Our recommendations
In order to timely bring activities into compliance with the requirements of Resolution No. 692, we recommend taking the following measures:
Audit of the salary level: conduct an analysis of the average salary indicators in general and individually for each of the employees who are booked or planned to be booked, for compliance with the new criterion regarding the salary size. If necessary, ensure the adjustment of accruals.
Checking compliance with military-liable employee reservation limits: if necessary, cancel the reservation of employees who exceed the limit.
Updating data on part-time employees: clarify with such employees at which place of work they wish to be included in the employee reservation quota, make a preliminary calculation of the limit that will be in effect for you from 01.09.2026.
Monitoring updated sectoral and regional criteria: ensure the tracking of orders on the approval of such criteria and subsequent verification for compliance with them (for those who obtained status according to such criteria).
Formation of a document package: prepare a full package of documents in advance for submission to confirm criticality status.
